Palestinians expect checkpoint deal to clinch Israeli pullout from four West Bank cities

A deal for Israel to pull troops out of four West Bank cities is expected to be finalised today in a move to bolster a six-week-old ceasefire threatened by renewed violence.

Negotiations ran into trouble in the early hours yesterday amid disagreements over Israel's attempt to maintain roadblocks on the edges of Qalqilya and Jericho, the first two cities it will withdraw from.

But the Palestinian security minister, Mohammed Dahlan, said he expected that and other issues to be resolved today.

"Tomorrow negotiations over the Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities will be completed," he said yesterday.

Palestinian police in uniform began deploying on the streets of Qalqilya on Sunday in expectation of the withdrawal.

A final agreement on the terms of the pullout stalled over Israel's insistence on retaining checkpoints to control access to Qalqilya and Jericho, and on exits to the rest of the West Bank.

The roadblock is felt particularly acutely in Qalqilya, which is surrounded by a nine-metre concrete wall which is part of the controversial "security fence" Israel is constructing the length of the West Bank.

Yesterday, Mr Dahlan told the Palestinian parliament that the roadblocks had to go. "What we need now is a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal without checkpoints. Things must be different for Palestinian citizens," he said.

He was backed by the Palestinian information minister, Nabil Amr. "If the checkpoints are not removed, then this withdrawal means nothing. The withdrawals are about freedom of movement," Mr Amr said.

The broad agreement on the pullout came after pressure from the Americans on both sides to avoid a collapse of the ceasefire, threatened by the Israeli army's killing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists and two suicide bombings last week.

The Israelis have been keen to shed responsibility for Qalqilya and Jericho, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) was reluctant to take control, in part because of what it calls the "apartheid wall".

The Palestinians agreed to accept responsibility for the cities after being promised that the Israelis would with draw from the Palestinian capital, Ramallah, and the city of Tulkarm within a fortnight if there are no suicide bombings or other major attacks.

The two sides agreed to the withdrawals after hammering out a deal on the fate of about 400 Palestinian men wanted for planning suicide bombings and carrying out other attacks.

Israel had originally demanded that the PA lock the men up as part of its obligations under the US-led "road map" to disarm and dismantle "terrorist organisations".

But under American pressure the Israelis agreed to a Palestinian proposal for the men to be confined to their home towns under PA supervision.

Israel will guarantee not to arrest or kill the wanted men in areas under Palestinian control. However, it is demanding a personal commitment from Mr Dahlan that the wanted men "will not revert back to terrorist activities".

A Palestinian cabinet minister, Yasser Abd Rabbo, said there was little point in the Israelis withdrawing from Palestinian cities if residents were still not free to leave.

"They want us to accept turning our cities and villages into ghettos, enclosures and detention camps, and this we won't accept," he said.

Israel maintains about 170 permanent checkpoints on the West Bank. Palestinians say the roadblocks divide families and make travelling to work between cities laborious or even impossible. Men under 40 are often prevented from leaving their home towns.